India alleges Canadian colleges linked to trafficking foreign students over Canada-U.S. border

Indian law enforcement agencies say they are investigating alleged links between dozens of colleges in Canada and two "entities" in Mumbai accused of illegally ferrying students across the Canada-U.S. border.

A news release Tuesday from India's Enforcement Directorate — a multi-disciplinary organization that investigates money laundering and foreign exchange laws — said a multi-city search has revealed "incriminating" evidence of "human trafficking."

The allegations have not been tested in court. The federal government, the RCMP, the Indian high commission in Ottawa and multiple Canadian college officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The U.S. Embassy said Thursday it had no comment.

Indian officials say they launched their investigation after Jagdish Baldevbhai Patel, 39, was found dead along with his wife and two children near a border crossing between Manitoba and the United States on Jan. 19, 2022.

Last month, a Minnesota jury found Steve Shand of Florida and Harshkumar Patel, an Indian national arrested in Chicago, guilty of four counts related to bringing unauthorized people into the U.S., transporting them and profiting from it.

Patel is a common name in India and the family was not related to the accused.

Prosecutors said Harshkumar Patel co-ordinated a sophisticated operation while Shand was a driver who was supposed to pick up 11 Indian migrants on the Minnesota side of the border. Only seven survived the foot crossing. Canadian authorities found the Patel family later that morning, dead from the cold.

Harshkumar Patel and Shand have not yet been sentenced and might appeal.

The Tuesday news release said officials launched an investigation following a report filed against Bhavesh Ashokbhai Patel, who allegedly arranged the family's travel.

Each member of the family was allegedly charged the equivalent of between $93,000 and $102,000 to cross into the United States from Canada, the directorate claimed. 

The incident has been called the Dingucha case in India, named after the village in the Gujarat state of western India from which the family originated.

The Enforcement Directorate said it searched eight places last week in Mumbai, Nagpur in Maharashtra state, and Gandhinagar and Vadodara in Gujarat.

It also claims that Bhavesh Ashokbhai Patel allegedly arranged people to get admissions to Canadian colleges, which helped in getting student visas.